Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Government?

Stephen J. Wayne, Editor

Publication Year: 2004

Has our system of checks and balances between the three branches of our federal government undergone changes for good or ill over the years since the Constitution was set as the cornerstone of our nation? How stand our political traditions, our personal freedoms, our purported equality, our sense of governance of, by, and for the people? Are we the democratic nation we set out to be, or do we have a distance to go to achieve this ideal? Alternatively, is approaching a democratic ideal desirable today in the light of the smaller, more integrated, and dangerous world in which we live?
Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Government? examines the theory and practice of American democracy and the dichotomy that currently exists between them. The contributors assess both the reasonsùand the consequencesùof this division between the theory of democracy and how it is played out in actuality. Focusing on the here and now, this book is about the institutions, process, and politics of government: how well they work; whether they meet the criteria for a viable democratic system; and the extent to which they contribute to good public policy.
As we begin the 21st century, with rancorous political partisanship and threats to domestic security and tranquility at an all-time high, Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Government? asks us to think seriously about the state of our much-heralded democracy, and whether or not our political system can respond to the pressing needs of a new era without jeopardizing the basic values and beliefs that underlie its very foundation.

Contents

Figures

Tables

...4.2 Ratio of Spending in Congressional Races, 2000 versus 1980 533.4 Social Characteristics of Donors and General Public, 1996 413.6 Political Attitudes: Conservatives/Liberals, Major Donors 446.2 Diversity in the Federal Workforce: Percentages of Positions6.4 Occupational Status of Federal Executives’ Fathers, by Year 88...

Part II: A Democratic Congress?

Chapter 3 Campaign Contributions and Democracy

On March 27, 2002, President George W.Bush signed the Bipartisan Campaign Fi-Percentage who say reason is “very important” in making contributions All MajorPercentage who say factor is “always important” in making contributionaNumber of respondents weighted to reflect unequal probabilities of selection....

Chapter 4 Money and the Possibility of Democratic Governance

On almost any day of the week you canfind members of Congress locked awayin cubicles in their national party head-Source: Federal Election Commission 2001 and author’s calculations.Senate Jon Corzine D-N.J. $60,200,967 $63,209,506 Won general electionSenate Mark Dayton D-Minn. 11,772,067 11,957,114 Won general electionSenate Maria Cantwell D-Wash. 10,331,911 11,571,697 Won general election...

Part III: A Democratic Executive?

Chapter 6 A Government That Looks Like America?

Citizens and scholars alike have long per-ceived a natural tension between de-mocracy and bureaucracy—a tensionSource: Office of Personnel Management Demographic Profile, September 2000; available at www.opm.gov/feddata/demograp/demograp.asp.Table 6.4 Occupational Status of Federal Executives’ Fathers, by Year(percentage of federal executives who report to political appointees)Table 6.2 Diversity in the Federal Workforce: Percentages of Positions...

Chapter 7 The Promise and Peril of Presidential Polling: Between Gallup’s Dream and the Morris Nightmare

Chapter 8 Democratic Government and the Unilateral Presidency

In the 1960s, Richard Neustadt argued thatseparated institutions with shared powersare the hallmarks of American govern-Source: Data compiled by author from Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.Source: Data compiled by author from Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.Source: Data compiled by author from monthly and annual tabulation of significant...

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